Seriously…is your 2009 marketing plan written? Don’t lie, fib or fool yourself. If you don’t have a marketing plan then you don’t have a way to determine whether you’re spending wisely.
Get a plan. Read about our process here.
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Gosh it amazes me that new marketing, word of mouth marketing and social media types constantly cry about having to make sales for their clients (like it’s a bad thing). It’s like we’ve created a generation of as Arnold would say “girly men“.
Yesterday Spike Jones of Brains on Fire (word of mouth marketing company) wrote this girly man statement:
Is all marketing self serving? It’s a question I struggle with. But I guess it’s because I know the answer: YES, all marketing is self-serving. Even this blog and twitter account and LinkedIn and Facebook and all of it – it’s not just sharing information. It’s self-serving.
Yea, I’m pretty sure we exist to make money and add to that we exist to make our client’s money. Making sales for our customers should be a top if not the top priority. Some of these girly men are taking social media to a new level, sort of like, dare I say a religion.
Snap out of it people.
Brand Identity Guru is a for profit company that wants to make money for ourselves and our customers. We love and are passionate about what we do and we charge a premium price for it. I get pumped up when I know that something we executed for a client made our client piles of cash.
Is marketing self serving? You betcha, thank god for that!
p.s. This was my comment to Spike about his blog post:
Maybe you should curl up with a pint of Häagen-Dazs and a romance novel and cry yourself to sleep…
Last time I checked, you, me and all agencies are still in business to make money. Customers want and expect us to profit from them in exchange for the value (whatever that is, including sales) we bring. That’s the payoff.
AC/DC’s marketing is done by a firm called Kleber (http://kleber.net/) and they are killing it, and I mean it’s outstanding. The new Excel - YouTube video is freakin outrages…
You can also click here and watch it for real in Excel: http://www.acdcrocks.com/excel/
They’re holding YouTube contests, http://acdc.com/giveitallyougot/, they have new forums: http://forum.acdc.com/, http://forums.sonybmgmusic.com/ACDC/, sign up for their newsletter: https://signup.acdc.com/?module=Newsletter, they have great widgets:
They spit in the face of iTunes and signed an exclusive deal with Walmart. Guess what? #1 in 29 countries. Not bad for a bunch of 55 year olds huh? Everyone criticized them and now they are laughing all the way to the bank. It can be done.
They’re still in the top 5 of all time for single album sales with Back and Black (over 22 million sold), and world wide sales of over 200 million.
Video game? Check.
It’s nice to see a classic band like AC/DC breaking the iTunes mold. Maybe other musicians will take notice. I’ll be seeing them from the 3rd row on November 9th at the Boston Garden. The BIG Kahuna is not worthy!
Well I’m finally freakin’ published. Thank God it’s only one page from me and 237 of my friends. That’s right a book from the leading branding, marketing, advertising, word of mouth marketing and social media types. Each of us got to write one essay, of course mine will stand out because I’m sure 90% of the authors wrote about social media and word of mouth….because that’s hot.
Not me! I wrote about the most important thing any company can do…. Build a brand identity. Here’s a snippet from my essay:
Why do 90% of companies try and be everything to everyone? Do you think it benefits you to be part of the “norm”? Blending in only shows how weak you are, standing apart shows why you’re different and better. Which club do you belong to?
Then of course I go on to give my BIG Kahuna wisdom. The book, The Age of Conversation: Why Don’t They Get It goes on sale today, October 28, 2008. You can get the book in three ways… an ebook, hardcover, and softcover.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, now is the time to be smart with your branding and budget. But sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words…Tom Fishburne says it well here:
Tom goes on to say:
We’re all going to feel pressure to cut, cut, cut but I think it’s even more important than ever to be thoughtful about what needs to be trimmed (and remember not to spoil what needs to grow). The best barbecue is cooked slow. Read the full story here.
I’d go even further and say let your competitors cut while you invest more. Now is the time to be aggressive in your branding, marketing and advertising. Just be smart about it and invest in tactics that will generate good return on investment.
For many years we’ve been telling our clients and anyone that would listen that your branding touches everything, all the time. I’ve been screaming at clients on their internal policies and procedures. If you set up policies and procedures that work against your brand identity you’re basically shooting yourself in the head. Here’s a great example of that from George Silverman:
From a recent Hilton email:
.. But Time is Running Out
We don’t want to lose you as a valued member. Please act by June 01, 2008 to keep your HHonors account open. If no activity is recorded by that time, the remaining point balance will be forfeited and your account will be closed. Prior to your account closing, you may redeem your points for any eligible reward. For a complete listing of HHonors rewards,
To which I replied:
If you really don’t want to lose a valuable member, don’t apply this pressure. Just keep the account open and don’t hit me with arbitrary requirements.
Hilton, change your antiquated policies and procedures or people like George and I will help spread the word…
It’s been a while since I wrote on my continuing series of “When Naming Goes Bad” but here ya go, branding at its finest:
From the Manjunk website:
Developed by a man for men, Man Junk is a combination of world-class ingredients and relentless attention to detail. Any product that’s made to clean your neck, back, buttocks or legs isn’t going to provide the specific levels of odor fighting and skin treatment that Man Junk does.
I had no idea my personal Manjunk reeked that bad? All these years of using the same soap to wash my entire body? What was I thinking? I need this product like I need a 5th blade on my razor.
Here’s a better more appropriate name for this product:
MANJOKE
Like most professionals I’m supposed to get Saturday and Sunday off but I find myself working almost every weekend? Why you ask?
POWER.
1. Passion - I really love what I do. So in place of a hobby or time spent on my house I often choose to write a blog or do some work. That all typically ends when something really fun comes up like tonight’s game two Red Sox LCS.
2. Opportunity - Most people just refuse to work on the weekends. So when I’m not busy having too much fun my passion allows me to get in front of people when most are not. Less competition means more opportunity for my message to be heard.
2. Whacky - Now’s the time to experiment and have fun. It is after all the weekend. Answer the business line casually, like - You’ve reached Brand Identity Guru on the weekend you lucky duck. How can the BIG Kahuna serve you? You’ll find the caller will be instantously relaxed and amused.
3. Effective - I find even if a dedicate just one hour a day on Saturday and Sunday I become much more effective in my goals.
4. Results - Can’t tell you how many prospects I’ve converted to customers just by answering our office phone line (which gets transferred to my cell on the weekends). Most of the responses I get are “Oh wow, I thought I would just leave a message”. Nope, you got the BIG Kahuna on Sunday at 10am, how can I help you.
Practice some POWER sometimes you may be amazed.
1. They make you look small
2. They make you look desperate
3. They don’t work
4. They are a budget waster and if they are free see #5
5. They are a time waster
6. They turn customer off
7. They are nothing more than a short term band aid if they work
8. They break trust with your clients/prospects
9. They most likely will make you look goofy
10. Here’s an example of using gimmicks in marketing (by Andy Sernovitz - an expert marketer):
Do you think that was an effective word of mouth marketing tactic?
Why do word of mouth marketing folks hate on traditional advertising? Today Seth Godin writes:
This is why the Journal’s report that Google is flirting seriously with a big advertising buy is so troublesome. Once you start buying TV time, you just added another tool to your marketing belt. Now, plenty of your development and marketing team will say, “Oh, we’ll just buy ads. People will use it!” Suddenly, you don’t focus so much on building word of mouth and remarkability into your products, because now you can easily use TV to spackle over less remarkable products.
Think about that for a bit. Here’s what I say, that’s freakin ridiculous. Sure, running bad TV spots won’t work but a good strategic integrated branding strategy will. What these Kool-Aid drinking word of mouth marketers never seem to understand is the impact of a strategic integrated branding approach. One tactic lifts up another, they work hand and hand. They all leverage the brand identity. Bingo, it all works.
But, if you do crappy stuff you get crappy results. Don’t hate on any one tactic it’s just shortsighted. Word of mouth marketing can be fantastic, I agree. But great TV ads (insert Mac vs PC here) can also do great things and Apple’s TV ads certainly hasn’t taken away from their word of mouth marketing, has it?
Last week I defended direct mail when word of mouth marketing company Brains on Fire dismissed the entire tactic (read about that here). Today I defend TV advertising. I do this if and only if it’s part of an integrated, strategic branding approach. Focusing on just any one tactic is not something I will ever recommend to a client.
I would be wary of any marketing company that only promoted one tactic, because it’s most likely the tactic they’re selling. Brand Identity Guru is not tied to any tactic, we only use the tactics that are best for the client based on their brand identity goals. BIG difference.
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